One example of a conventional method for manufacturing connectors employing insert molding is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3338667. In this method, connected terminal pieces having a plurality of terminals are linked onto metallic bands at predetermined intervals. The metallic bands are intermittently conveyed as carriers. The connectors are manufactured by insert molding around rows of the terminals. Positioning apertures are formed in the connected terminal pieces, and small protrusions that correspond to the positioning apertures are formed on the metallic band. The connected terminal pieces are linked to the metallic bands by detachably swaging the protrusions and the apertures. Resin is injected into a mold having the rows of terminals arranged therein to form a housing. The connector formed by the resin and the rows of terminals is then removed from the metallic band, and the band-like substrates of the connected terminal pieces are cut off.
In the conventional method described above, it is not possible to reform the protrusions on the metallic band from which the connected terminal pieces have been removed. Therefore, the metallic bands are not reusable and must be discarded as scrap. Accordingly, it is necessary to manufacture new metallic bands, which increases the manufacturing cost of connectors. In addition, the positioning of the connected terminal pieces is performed by engaging and swaging the positioning apertures of the connected terminal pieces and the small protrusions on the metallic bands. There is therefore a possibility that positional displacement will occur due to gaps between the diameter of the apertures and the outer diameters of the protrusions. In other words, the positional relationships between the rows of contacts and the housing may be skewed.